


Rest

by MoonlitPath



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: F/F, I'm too damn emotional, Sad, i almost cried writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:19:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25483813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitPath/pseuds/MoonlitPath
Summary: I got emotional so I wrote this.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51





	Rest

**Author's Note:**

> I got emotional so I wrote this.

It was a long trip back, with the sun burning on her skin and rubbing in the madness of all her actions. The stumps where her fingers used to be still stung at the touch, even if they appeared mended, the harsh red coloring truly presented the wounds that lied under, similar to the wound that slowly mended in her heart. She did not kill her, even though she lied under the palms of her hands and writhed with the need to breath, to continue to live for the boy that was vulnerable and Ellie had threatened with the blade of her knife. The water’s sound still kept to her ears all the way back to Jackson, and the loneliness she felt when she realized that Dina had left the farm with JJ intensified. 

She managed to draw his eyes though, she forgave him. She let him go the moment she let Abby walk away.

“Just take him.”

She was sure she was talking more to the memories that she held sacred, the sight of his face that she could finally draw without pain swelling in her blood. The depth of his eyes that loved her even though she pushed it away.

She was a fool, she knew. 

Would Joel be proud of her if he was here, to see her let go at last?

She was sure.

The grave that had him had freshly picked flowers, Tommy’s, no doubt. Ellie added her own batch that she carefully picked, with an elevated sensation in her mind that had her going forward. 

When Maria met her at the gate she had cried at the empty gaze she adorned, one that also carried relief. Tommy stuttered on his words, muttering how sorry he was for being such an asshole, for making her go through that. Dina had not come to find her, maybe she did not even know she arrived at the town yet. Or she did not want to see her.

Stepping inside Joel’s house was freeing somewhat, it gave her the comfort that she very much needed, everything would go forward from now on. She slept with his jacket on the first night, it was warm and smelled of wood, the smell bringing her senses down to earth and protecting her from the cold of the open window that remained all night. The tears that dried on her cheeks were saying forgive me for not letting him rest sooner.

In the morning, she would go and find Dina and JJ and fall to her knees and say: 

“Joel would have wanted me to stay, I was too blind to even care.”

She would stare at Dina in the eyes, which would hold no more love for her and whisper: 

“I’m alive again. Even if you don’t want anything to do with me. I’ll be here.”

-

Her eyes felt crusty from all the crying she endured last night, the knocking that echoed in the home jolted her awake, driving her to hurry downstairs and hesitate with her hand on the knob.

“Ellie!” Her voice was muffled behind the door, but it was her. The woman she had stupidly left. 

Dina took in her disgruntled appearance, her eyes wide with disbelief. 

“You came back.” She breathed shakily, the air that blew ruffling her hair and tangling it, she was still so beautiful.

Ellie knew what she had to do. Before her knee even meet the ground, she was pulled by the front of her shirt, hands that held on with desperation. Dina caressed her face and her arms, as if she would disappear from where she stood in a fraction of a second.

“Dina-” She started, face twisting in immerse guilt.

“I’m angry. I’m so fucking angry.” Dina interrupted, frown apparent along with the crease of her eyebrow. “But I held a little bit of hope that you would be back, I thought long and hard about it and I saw that you needed help.” She swallowed. “I could not provide it.”

Her eyes lingered on her severed fingers, slowly taking them in her hand and holding them there.

“Did you kill her?”

Ellie shook her head, not breaking eye contact. Dina exhaled, a salty tear escaping her eye and dripping to her chin where it fell in the space between them. The barrier that had built up in the time she was away.

“What did you do?” Dina asked.

“I let him go.” The wall broke, she said it aloud, the universe listened carefully.

Dina wrapped her arms around her, even though she was furious, she was not dumb. Ellie had begun her process of healing at last. 

There was a rocky road ahead of them, they would fix what they had lost, they both desired it.


End file.
